It Lives Inside

I saw It Lives Inside early as part of Regal's Mystery Movie Monday. I already had it on my watchlist so I was happy with the choice. The outcome though, not so much.

It takes a long while to get going, for the story to progress, and to see anything scary. Even when it does get going, it's fairly underwhelming aside from one scene in the middle. After that scene, I felt mildly positive about the movie. But I found the third act and conclusion to be a huge letdown. And the movie overall feels ordinary within the horror genre.

Part of the reason the horror elements feel weak is the PG-13 rating. This movie should have absolutely been rated R. If they weren't restricted, some of these scenes could have been shocking. They sometimes do a decent job of pushing the limits or creatively showing what they can. But it's not enough and feels like it's holding back.

There are some good elements here. And I can see some people liking this. But it just didn't do it for me. It reminded me of a significantly restrained and much worse version of Smile. Watch that instead.

(1 viewing, early screening Mystery Movie Monday 9/4/2023)